I decided to see “Young Frankenstein” before it closed because I was enamored with the film, which I saw four times, and I think that Mel Brooks is a genius, a brilliant comic, a great writer, and a very clever film director. All that in just one small package which spells ‘MEL BROOKS’!
Mel Brooks
Well I should have saved my money. The best thing about the Show was the Curtain.
Nimax Theatres Ltd., I believe, is the company that owns the Garrick Theatre.
The Garrick Theatre
Instead of acquiring another theatre, as they seem to do like like a baby octopus, they should spend some of their shekels on cleaning up and refurbishing the Garrick Theatre. It is a disgrace! When you sit in the dress circle you expect the seats to be comfortable. Not at the Garrick! The padding has practically worn down to the wood, and those that are in a fairly good condition are even worse, because you can finish up with a spring hallway up your arse!
Last year when I saw Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon in “The Painkiller” at the Garrick, I sat in the dress circle, maybe it could have been the same seat, and finished up with arse ache! That was a ‘Real Painkiller’ and how appropriate! What a pun that is!
Well, things haven’t improved!
The usherettes stand at the doorway chewing gum and selling programmes, and they do not move. They’re busy talking! and talking! and talking! I think it was about the boys make-up! They are not interested in showing you to your seat. I was told ‘Row D, Centre!’ by he or she or it. I didn’t know what it was! All I do know is that usherettes are supposed to usher, move their arses, and take you to your seat. Not stand in the entrance talking and chewing and looking very bored. No wonder the show is coming off! Most probably they are in the same quandary as the audience because they also don’t know where the rows are. I entered the theatre and couldn’t see a bloody thing! Remember I’m 88, no spring chicken! After stumbling around I found Row D. The aisles and quite a few seats are not numbered. Just a few have faded numbers. So you finish up counting from a number you can see to find your seat.
Nimax Theatres Ltd., do the bloody theatre up!!!
‘This is a fine start to my evening’s enjoyment’, I thought.
The Show itself was not good or really that funny. It was more like a No.1 touring version of the original West End production. In fact, I’ve seen better in the provinces. All I could think was that when Mel Brooks saw it, he quickly collected his money and caught the next plane back to the U.S.A. Very wise!
They were the best of the bunch, and even they seemed to be tired!
I was so disappointed with the show that I left at the Interval.
I don’t blame the cast or the production. If the seats would have been comfortable and the usherettes would have done their job, maybe I would have seen the whole show from a different prospective
But I have to blame the two usherettes and Nimax Theatres Ltd., who started it all, and got me really pissed off, and put me into such a bad mood!!! What a disaster!!!
I haven’t talked much about the show, because truthfully there was nothing really much of importance to talk about.
NOW “42nd. Street” at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. WOW!
That’s, what you call a Show!
I went from the ridiculous to the sublime! The show and the cast are fantastic! You just cannot fault it.
With a cast of over 50, it is a gem and should run for years.
I couldn’t believe that this was the same theatre that I played in when I was ‘ZEE and CO.” with Cannon and Ball when we made the T.V. Special so many, many, many years ago.
Lulu was excellent, you couldn’t fault her.
I left the Theatre a very, very, very happy bunny! That is what Show Business is all about! Great Theatre! Wonderful memories of when I was working there. and seeing a wonderfully spectacular show.
Tags: 1950s British tour of Dracula, 1950s coffee bars, 1950s Soho prostitutes, 42nd SDtreet, A handy witty comment or one liner, Actor Theatre Managers, Agatha Christie, Albert Einstein, Alec Baldwin, Alexandra Theatre, Alma Cadillac, Andi Brooks, Angela Jackson, Angela Lansbury, Angela Zablo, Anne Delyse, annual report, April Ashley, Audrey Crane, Barons Keep, Bela Lugosi, Benedict Nightingale, Bette Davis, BLITHE SPIRIT, Brenda Saunders, Bruce Brace., Cannon and Ball, Carol Burnett, Cary Grant, Casino De Paris, Casino De Paris Striptease Theatre Club, Charles Russell, Chita Rivera, Colette, Confucious, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Daniel Radcliffe, Danny La Rue, David Ellen, David Frost, David Merrick, Desiderious Erismus, Diamind Lil, Diamons Lil, Diane Darling, Donald Bodley, Dr. Faustus, Dr. Murray Banks, Dracula, Duchess Theatre, Eartha Kitt, Elaine Stritch, Elizabeth Carr, Elmer Rice, Eric Lindsay, Erte, Fay Compton, Fay Duncanson, fireworks, Frances Day, Francesca Annis, Frank Dello Stritto, Funny Girl, Garrrick Theatre, Gerry Maycock, Glenn Close, guest star, Harcourt Williams, Heaven & Hell Coffee Bar, Heaven and Hell Coffee Lounge, Helen Mirren, Henry Kendall, Hermione Baddeley, Hermione Baddley, Hermione Gingold, Hotel Malaysia Singapore, iane Darling, Jack Hanson, James Woolf, Jane Fonda, Jenny Lynn, Joan Crawford, Joan Davis, Joan Rivers, Joe Castle, John F. Kennedy, John F.Kennedy Jnr., John Gielgud, Joyce Redman, Judson Barteaux, Kathy Keeton, Kay Hammond, Khoo Teck Puat, Kim Cattrall, Kinky Boots, Kit Harrington, Lady Chinchilla, Lana Turner, Lance Hamilton, Lauren Bacall, Laurence Harvey, Laurence Olivier, Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Remick, Lesley Glory, Lulu, Lydia Lova, Lyle’s Cavalcade of Mystery, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Mae West, Mae West Great Balls of Fire, Malcolm Vadel, Margaret Leighton, Margaret Rutheford, Margot Fonteyn, Marilyn Monroe, Mark Canter, Mark Twain, Marlene Dietrich, Mel Brooks, Michael R. Burch, Monique Starr, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Myra Breckonbridge, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Nell Gwynn, Nimax Theatres, Ninette De Valois, Noel Coward, Old Compton Street, Oscar Wilde, Pamela Bevan, Parmiters Secondary, Paul Gross, Paul Valery, Peter De Vries, Philip Seow, press cuttings, Private Lives, Prophets, Quentin Crisp, Radio City Music Hall, Ralph Richardson, Ray Jackson, Reece Allen, Regency Coffee Bar in East Sheen, Rhoda Rogers, Ricky Renee, Robert Harbin, Robert Helpmann, Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, Rosemary Andree, Sax Rohmer, Scorpio the leopard, Seagulls Over Sorrento, She Always Knew How Mae West A Personal Biogrphy, Sheridan Smith, Sir Robert Helpmann, Slaughter, Soho, Sonne Teal, Stephen Sondheim, Stormy Summers, Street Scene, Suki Zee, Sunset Boulevard, Susan Wilding, Sybil Thorndike, Sydney Opera House, Taylor Pero, Tennessee Williams, The 2 I's, The 2I's, The Dolly's A Go Go, The Final Test, the Kosset Carpet Cat, The Magic Castle at Seven Dials, The Maids, The Painkiller, The Regency Coffee Bar, The Tony Awards, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Those Dangerous Years, Tina Fey, Tobacco Road, Tod, Tod Slaughter, Tokyo, Trixie Kent, Tyrone Guthrie, Under The Frozen Falls, Uzo Aduba, Vampire Over London Bela Lugoai In Britain, Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain, Virginia Woolf, Vivien Leigh, W.Somerset Maugham, Warner Oland, Will Rog, Will Rogers, Wilson Mizner, Winston Churchill, Wise Men, Witty Ladies, Woody Allen, Yangtse Incident, Young Frankenstein, Zawe Ashton, Zee & Co., Zee and Co.
Grand Union Railway Station
I Took the Amtrak Train from New York to Fort Lauderdale, Florida from the Grand Union Railway Station, New York as a gift to myself. This time I booked a room. That’s a laugh! You can forget it! Big mistake!!! Fortunately, I listened to the Amtrak Assistant at the Office who insisted that I send at least 2 sets of luggage on in advance. Because, as she said “There is not a lot of room in the room.” How right she was, and thank God I did. Otherwise I’d have been up shit creek without a paddle!
The Room without 1 Suitcase and 1 Holdall.
The room is supposed to be for 2 people. I can tell you that if a married couple did the trip and shared the room, they would be starting divorce proceedings the moment they arrived at their destination! To use the toilet come shower you would have to climb over or knock out the other person. Once inside this combined toilet come shower, you would just have to pray that you don’t suffer from claustrophobia or have diarrhea! What do people do who are a little on the large size? I really dread to think! The toilet seat is so small (only for little bums) that you sit there with both cheeks clamped together. Everything you have to do in that room has to be at your own risk, and I’m sure there is a notice there to that effect.
THIS IS THE TOILET COME SHOWER WITH THE DOOR OPEN
In the main room (that’s another laugh), there is a lighted button which says call for Attendant. There are only two rooms in total on the train. But does the Attendant come? Oh! No! He’s busy sitting in the Restaurant Car talking to the rest of the other Attendants. So you need to go and find him should you require anything.
Come time to turn down the bed, by the time the double bed is made up there is a 6 inch gap between the wash-hand basin and the bed.
Have you ever tried to squeeze through a 6 inch gap? By the time you are through, you need the kiss of life! I’m sure that you would be better off and have more room in a prison cell!
So all those wonderful moments that I dreamed about as a child when I would go to the cinema with Rose. Those great moments in the old B Movies when the Gangsters would shoot it out and Romance also took place, all in on an Amtrak Train in a private Room. All those moment couldn’t have happened on this train or this room!
All my hopes of living through those wonderful moments were dashed to the ground. Here I was on the luxurious Silver Amtrak Train in a cubby hole! The rooms on the Amtrak Train in the movies didn’t exist. They must have had some Dramatic License when they made the Films and just stretched the Rooms! In the 60’s Ray and I went from Miami to New York on Amtrak, and at that time I booked couchettes thinking it was a room. It wasn’t it was bunk beds ( I didn’t know any better) But it finished up like a scene from “Some Like it Hot”, except we didn’t have Marylyn Monroe or Tony Curtis or Jack Lemmon to accompany us and liven things up!
Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like It Hot”
That trip was awful! So, this time I made sure and booked a room, and what happens I’ve done it again!
The room was definitely made for very, very, very little people Even Janet Krankie would have found it a tight squeeze, and that was without Ian. Well maybe she could have always sat on his knee as Wee Jimmy and they could have done their brilliant Vent Act.
Janet and Ian as Wee Jimmy doing their Vent Act.
But that wouldn’t be possible with the Political Correctness that they have these days. There! It just all goes to show you! Another dream shattered!!!
If I would have known what the Train Journey would have been like. I would have caught the Train with “Anastasia”!
Tags: Amtrak Train, Eric Lindsay, Ian Krankie, Jack Lemmon, Janet Krankie, Marilyn Monroe
If Annie Leibovitz had been given a paintbrush instead of a camera, she would have been put into the class of Rembrandt or Degas. Or otherwise if Rembrandt and Degas would have had a camera instead of a paint brush, they would have been an Annie Leibovitz.
Practically every photograph that I have seen is a work of art, in fact they are not photos, they are portraits. For example and there are many:
Firstly this is by Rembrandt.
The Stone Bridge by Rembrandt.
Photo by Annie Leibovitz of ‘The Queen of England’ 2007
This photo of the Queen has the touch of a master, the detail in the pose, the background, the lighting, the whole, turns it into a beautiful portrait, that could have been painted by Rembrandt.
These are some of the Queen of England collection by Annie Leibovitz:
Annie Leibovitz was commissioned by Harper’s Bazaar Magazine to produce a collection of photos in the style of Degas, with the wonderful American Ballerina Misty Copeland, Here is part of her collection:
Annie Leibovitz
A press release from UBS.
Annie Leibovitz Biography
Annie Leibovitz began her career as a photojournalist for Rolling Stone in 1970, while she was still a student at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her pictures have appeared on magazine covers ever since. In 1983, when she joined the staff of the revived Vanity Fair, she was established as the foremost rock music photographer and an astute documentarian of the social landscape. For over three decades, at Vanity Fair and later at Vogue, she has been adding to a large and distinguished body of work that includes some of the most well-known portraits of our time.
Several collections of Leibovitz’s work have been published and exhibitions of her photographs have appeared at museums and galleries all over the world, from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C; the National Portrait Gallery in London; to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
She is the recipient of many honors, in 2006 she was made a Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French government, in 2009, she received the International Center of Photography’s Lifetime Achieverment Award, the first Creative Excellence Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors, and the Centenary Medal of the Royal Photographic Society in London. In 2012, she was the recipient of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts and the Wexner Prize. In2013 she received the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, Leibovitz has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress.
Josephine and Daphne recreated.
This was taken by Annie Leibovitz 36yrs. after the original film “Some Like it Hot” which was made in 1959.
Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in 1995, what a great photo.
This is how they looked in the original with Marilyn Monroe.
Liberace 1981
Liberace’s Hands, just wearing something simple!
Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain scene from “La Dolce Vita”.
Annie Leibovitz’s version.
A backstage look into the working of that beautiful picture.
That is the magic of Annie Leibovitz.
Another backstage look
In 2001 she was commissioned by Vanity Fair to produce a series of photographs called “Hollywood Legends” Which she has produced periodically to the present day.
In 2007 Annie Leibovitz was commissioned to produce a series of “Disney Dream Portraits” by Disney Studios. Here are a few:
These are just a few of the brilliant portraits that this Master of Photography has produced. Every accolade she has received she deserved. Long may she continue.
Tags: Anita Ekberg, Anne Hart, Annie Leibovitz, Bruce Brace., Degas, Harper's Bazaar, Jack Lemmon, La Dolce Vita, Liberace, Marilyn Monroe, Misty Copeland, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of England, Rembrant, Ronnie Corbett, Stoke Newington, Tony Curtis, Vogue, Winston's Club
ericlindsay 
Mel Brooks and his London Stage Version of “Young Frankenstein”.
I decided to see “Young Frankenstein” before it closed because I was enamored with the film, which I saw four times, and I think that Mel Brooks is a genius, a brilliant comic, a great writer, and a very clever film director. All that in just one small package which spells ‘MEL BROOKS’!
Mel Brooks
Well I should have saved my money. The best thing about the Show was the Curtain.
Nimax Theatres Ltd., I believe, is the company that owns the Garrick Theatre.
The Garrick Theatre
Instead of acquiring another theatre, as they seem to do like like a baby octopus, they should spend some of their shekels on cleaning up and refurbishing the Garrick Theatre. It is a disgrace! When you sit in the dress circle you expect the seats to be comfortable. Not at the Garrick! The padding has practically worn down to the wood, and those that are in a fairly good condition are even worse, because you can finish up with a spring hallway up your arse!
Last year when I saw Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon in “The Painkiller” at the Garrick, I sat in the dress circle, maybe it could have been the same seat, and finished up with arse ache! That was a ‘Real Painkiller’ and how appropriate! What a pun that is!
Well, things haven’t improved!
The usherettes stand at the doorway chewing gum and selling programmes, and they do not move. They’re busy talking! and talking! and talking! I think it was about the boys make-up! They are not interested in showing you to your seat. I was told ‘Row D, Centre!’ by he or she or it. I didn’t know what it was! All I do know is that usherettes are supposed to usher, move their arses, and take you to your seat. Not stand in the entrance talking and chewing and looking very bored. No wonder the show is coming off! Most probably they are in the same quandary as the audience because they also don’t know where the rows are. I entered the theatre and couldn’t see a bloody thing! Remember I’m 88, no spring chicken! After stumbling around I found Row D. The aisles and quite a few seats are not numbered. Just a few have faded numbers. So you finish up counting from a number you can see to find your seat.
Nimax Theatres Ltd., do the bloody theatre up!!!
‘This is a fine start to my evening’s enjoyment’, I thought.
The Show itself was not good or really that funny. It was more like a No.1 touring version of the original West End production. In fact, I’ve seen better in the provinces. All I could think was that when Mel Brooks saw it, he quickly collected his money and caught the next plane back to the U.S.A. Very wise!
I was so disappointed with the show that I left at the Interval.
I don’t blame the cast or the production. If the seats would have been comfortable and the usherettes would have done their job, maybe I would have seen the whole show from a different prospective
But I have to blame the two usherettes and Nimax Theatres Ltd., who started it all, and got me really pissed off, and put me into such a bad mood!!! What a disaster!!!
I haven’t talked much about the show, because truthfully there was nothing really much of importance to talk about.
NOW “42nd. Street” at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. WOW!
That’s, what you call a Show!
I went from the ridiculous to the sublime! The show and the cast are fantastic! You just cannot fault it.
With a cast of over 50, it is a gem and should run for years.
I couldn’t believe that this was the same theatre that I played in when I was ‘ZEE and CO.” with Cannon and Ball when we made the T.V. Special so many, many, many years ago.
Lulu was excellent, you couldn’t fault her.
I left the Theatre a very, very, very happy bunny! That is what Show Business is all about! Great Theatre! Wonderful memories of when I was working there. and seeing a wonderfully spectacular show.
Posted by scorpio13th on October 5, 2018 in 42nd. Street, Garrick Theatre, Joe Castle, Lulu, Mel Brooks, Nimax Theatres Ltd., Uncategorized, Young Frankenstein, Zee & Co
Tags: 1950s British tour of Dracula, 1950s coffee bars, 1950s Soho prostitutes, 42nd SDtreet, A handy witty comment or one liner, Actor Theatre Managers, Agatha Christie, Albert Einstein, Alec Baldwin, Alexandra Theatre, Alma Cadillac, Andi Brooks, Angela Jackson, Angela Lansbury, Angela Zablo, Anne Delyse, annual report, April Ashley, Audrey Crane, Barons Keep, Bela Lugosi, Benedict Nightingale, Bette Davis, BLITHE SPIRIT, Brenda Saunders, Bruce Brace., Cannon and Ball, Carol Burnett, Cary Grant, Casino De Paris, Casino De Paris Striptease Theatre Club, Charles Russell, Chita Rivera, Colette, Confucious, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Daniel Radcliffe, Danny La Rue, David Ellen, David Frost, David Merrick, Desiderious Erismus, Diamind Lil, Diamons Lil, Diane Darling, Donald Bodley, Dr. Faustus, Dr. Murray Banks, Dracula, Duchess Theatre, Eartha Kitt, Elaine Stritch, Elizabeth Carr, Elmer Rice, Eric Lindsay, Erte, Fay Compton, Fay Duncanson, fireworks, Frances Day, Francesca Annis, Frank Dello Stritto, Funny Girl, Garrrick Theatre, Gerry Maycock, Glenn Close, guest star, Harcourt Williams, Heaven & Hell Coffee Bar, Heaven and Hell Coffee Lounge, Helen Mirren, Henry Kendall, Hermione Baddeley, Hermione Baddley, Hermione Gingold, Hotel Malaysia Singapore, iane Darling, Jack Hanson, James Woolf, Jane Fonda, Jenny Lynn, Joan Crawford, Joan Davis, Joan Rivers, Joe Castle, John F. Kennedy, John F.Kennedy Jnr., John Gielgud, Joyce Redman, Judson Barteaux, Kathy Keeton, Kay Hammond, Khoo Teck Puat, Kim Cattrall, Kinky Boots, Kit Harrington, Lady Chinchilla, Lana Turner, Lance Hamilton, Lauren Bacall, Laurence Harvey, Laurence Olivier, Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Remick, Lesley Glory, Lulu, Lydia Lova, Lyle’s Cavalcade of Mystery, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Mae West, Mae West Great Balls of Fire, Malcolm Vadel, Margaret Leighton, Margaret Rutheford, Margot Fonteyn, Marilyn Monroe, Mark Canter, Mark Twain, Marlene Dietrich, Mel Brooks, Michael R. Burch, Monique Starr, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Myra Breckonbridge, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Nell Gwynn, Nimax Theatres, Ninette De Valois, Noel Coward, Old Compton Street, Oscar Wilde, Pamela Bevan, Parmiters Secondary, Paul Gross, Paul Valery, Peter De Vries, Philip Seow, press cuttings, Private Lives, Prophets, Quentin Crisp, Radio City Music Hall, Ralph Richardson, Ray Jackson, Reece Allen, Regency Coffee Bar in East Sheen, Rhoda Rogers, Ricky Renee, Robert Harbin, Robert Helpmann, Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, Rosemary Andree, Sax Rohmer, Scorpio the leopard, Seagulls Over Sorrento, She Always Knew How Mae West A Personal Biogrphy, Sheridan Smith, Sir Robert Helpmann, Slaughter, Soho, Sonne Teal, Stephen Sondheim, Stormy Summers, Street Scene, Suki Zee, Sunset Boulevard, Susan Wilding, Sybil Thorndike, Sydney Opera House, Taylor Pero, Tennessee Williams, The 2 I's, The 2I's, The Dolly's A Go Go, The Final Test, the Kosset Carpet Cat, The Magic Castle at Seven Dials, The Maids, The Painkiller, The Regency Coffee Bar, The Tony Awards, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Those Dangerous Years, Tina Fey, Tobacco Road, Tod, Tod Slaughter, Tokyo, Trixie Kent, Tyrone Guthrie, Under The Frozen Falls, Uzo Aduba, Vampire Over London Bela Lugoai In Britain, Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain, Virginia Woolf, Vivien Leigh, W.Somerset Maugham, Warner Oland, Will Rog, Will Rogers, Wilson Mizner, Winston Churchill, Wise Men, Witty Ladies, Woody Allen, Yangtse Incident, Young Frankenstein, Zawe Ashton, Zee & Co., Zee and Co.